Despite having the sinking feeling that they were rushing headlong into a trap, Rhania couldn’t help but feel heartened as they followed the river upstream. She could feel nature’s energy radiating from something up ahead, which she took as proof of her elven heritage. Most of the magical energy was carried by the river and it invigorated her, making her steps light. The plants thrived around the river as well. The vegetation here was verdant and so thick that they would have had difficulty making progress were it not for the trail of destruction wrought by something that had come before them.

“If nothing else, it makes tracking them easy,” Ricar remarked as they stepped over fallen trees and trampled bushes. “We’re going a little fast. Ever thought they might have set up a trap?”

“It can’t be helped,” Rhania replied. “Besides, how would they know we are coming?”

“I just have a bad feeling about this,” Ricar replied.

“I know what you mean, but they could already be at the temple,” Rhania said, in an attempt to reassure herself as much as him. “It is a risk we will have to take.”

“It can’t be much further now,” Ricar observed. “Do you have any idea how one might tap the power of an elven temple?”

Rhania shook her head. “However, magical energy is still pouring from the font, so we can take heart from that.”

“I suppose,” Ricar allowed.

Then, the temple came into view and Rhania’s pulse quickened as she took it in. There were temples in the Empire that were grander and larger, but none came close to matching this one’s beauty. It seemed to gleam like an exquisite jewel, and it was as though the forest was a necklace that had been wrought just so it could enhance its beauty. A faint green-blue light shone from the temple’s turquoise roof, directed at the heavens above.

“It’s gorgeous,” she murmured.

“It is very impressive, yes,” Ricar observed dryly. “But those fallen beasts in the garden trouble me.”

Rhania blinked and saw the two broken bodies in the garden for the first time, lying in pools of foul black blood. Then she noticed the three fallen trees that looked to have been torn apart as well as a fourth that seemed out of place amidst the neat garden.

“A battle took place here,” Ricar observed.

“That much is obvious,” Rhania said as she readied her bow and looked around warily.

“Should we go in?” Ricar ventured.

Rhania frowned as she studied the temple. The stone door was shut and appeared intact. “He doesn’t appear to have gone inside.”

“That begs the question why,” Ricar said, deeply troubled. “He has clearly been here. Perhaps he has been defeated.”

“Wishful thinking,” Rhania snorted. “I don’t see a body.”

“Maybe he was so badly mauled that he was forced to withdraw,” Ricar offered. “He has lost four of those things already.”

“Leaving him with one or two,” Rhania pointed out. “If the villagers are to be believed.”

“Maybe he thinks he needs more,” Ricar suggested. “And has gone back to the village to get them.”

A shudder ran down Rhania’s spine, but she shook her head after thinking it over for a moment. “We would have passed him on our way in.”

“Unless he flew,” Ricar said as he pointed at one of the fallen creature’s wings. “Or perhaps he’s drunk his fill and is moving on to other things.”

Rhania sighed and shook her head. “This is getting us nowhere. We should go inside and see if he’s there. If he isn’t and there’s no sign that he has been, we can lie in wait.”

Ricar looked around for a moment before shrugging. “I can’t say I have any better suggestions.”

Rhania took the lead as they walked up to the threshold of the garden. She came to a stop at its perimeter and frowned.

“What is it?” Ricar asked.

“A magical barrier has been erected around it,” she replied, sensing its energy rather than seeing it.

She hesitated before placing a finger against it. Ricar took a step back as the barrier shimmered into view. It was warm to the touch but not unpleasant. She recognized the magic from the books she had read during her interminably long time in training. It was an ancient elven barrier enchantment, rarely seen these days within the Empire because it kept out everything but elves and their minions from entering. Curious, of what it would think of her, she applied pressure and her finger passed through to the other side.

“Do you think I can pass through it?” Ricar ventured.

Rhania shrugged. She felt a nagging feeling in the back of her mind as she pushed her hand through the barrier. The barrier burst into life, shimmering, and crackling angrily. Rhania’s heart sank. Was it rejecting her? These barriers were meant to never harm elves.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I think you should pull your hand out,” Ricar suggested worriedly as he reached for her.

Rhania held her hand in the barrier stubbornly. “No,” she thought desperately to herself. “I am an elf. You cannot harm me.”

The barrier hissed and spat like a furious cat. The barrier was now getting uncomfortably hot against her hand. It was as though the barrier was warning her to withdraw her hand.

“I am an elf!” she cried out loud as she placed her other hand against the barrier. “I am trueborn child of Ergon! You cannot harm me!”

The sound of shattering glass filled the air and Rhania gasped. The smell of wet grass filled the air, and a warm wind struck her in the face as magical energy came rushing out of the temple.

“What does this mean?” Rhania gasped as she fell to her knees. “What am I? Elf? Human?”

“This is not the time for an existential crisis, Madam Arbiter,” Ricar said as he looked around nervously. He wasn’t sure what just happened, but he knew it couldn’t be good. “I fear we…”

The words died in his throat and his body moved before his brain had fully understood what was going on. Ricar tackled Rhania to the ground just as a black slab of metal came flying past narrowly avoiding them before embedding itself in the side of the temple, almost fifty yards away.

“Gather your wits, the enemy is here!” Ricar screamed as he rolled to his feet and drew his sword.

Glonn and his guard charged out of their hiding place, almost overcome with thirst for the impending battle. However, something nagged at the corner of his mind, piercing through the fog. Hadn’t he decided it best to wait for the elf to enter the temple in case there were any traps inside? It was as though a fog had descended over his mind when he felt the wind blow and his body had moved without thinking.

He'd worry about that later. For now, they were committed to the battle. He looked over to his guard who still had a frenzied look about him. He looked over to their two opponents, one who had drawn his sword, and the other was crumpled on the ground with an anguished look on her face.

“If can you hear me, kill the woman, leave the man to me,” he ordered. The man would make a good replacement for the guards he had lost, but the woman appeared useless and could be slain.

The man had bravely placed himself between them and the woman, and the guard leapt over him to get behind them, leaving the men to square off.

“Glonn,” the man said with a look of disgust. “Look at what you’ve become.”

Glonn blinked and the fog lifted from his mind for a moment. So, his name was Glonn. “Ricar,” he said slowly. “Join us.”

“Do you even know what you’re fighting for, Glonn?” Ricar asked.

Behind him, the guard landed with a flap of his wings and raised his weapon to strike Rhania down. The weapon moved with blinding speed and then Rhania vanished, without a trace.

“Your partner is gone,” Glonn said mockingly as he raised his blade. “What will you do now, be turned willingly, or by force?”

“What difference does it make?” Ricar asked as he adjusted his position.

Glonn’s reply was interrupted when his guard grunted in pain. He turned around to see an arrow embedded in its eye. Ricar took full advantage of his foe’s distraction and lashed out with his sword, catching Glonn off guard. Glonn twisted his body in an attempt to dodge but was too late and Ricar’s sword bit deep into his chest.

Glonn gasped in pain as he staggered to the ground. He knew he was mortally wounded and that he had to get to the temple if he had any hope to survive.

“Help me!” he managed to gasp.

His guard roared and swung his weapon, forcing Ricar to leap backwards as Glonn staggered towards the temple.

Rhania fired off another arrow and cursed as it struck the horrific creature in the midsection. She had been aiming at the scrawny man with the sword who was slinking away in the direction of the temple when it had moved to protect its master. Moments ago, she had recovered her wits just in time to avoid the creature’s sneak attack. Her body felt light and strong as magical energies flowed from the temple. She glanced down at the sword at her hip and came to a quick decision. She would show them she was worthy of being called an elf, using her connection to the Human God to defeat the desecraters with an elvish weapon.

“Ricar, buy me some time!” she called out imperiously as she held an arrow up to the heavens. She wouldn’t be able to call upon His power again until the next dawn, but she had seen his wound, and the one called Glonn was likely to succumb to it before he reached the temple’s threshold.

“I’m not sure how you expect me to do that,” Ricar shouted back as he placed himself between her and the creature.

Rhania began chanting as Ricar hurled his dagger at the creature. The weapon bounced harmlessly off its forearm, and it snarled at the wiry man.

“Now you’ve done it,” he thought to himself. “You’ve used up all your luck and now you’re a dead man.”

Glonn being so easily distracted had been a stroke of luck. It also made it clear that he had never seen nor trained for battle. Not that any of it mattered now. The creature stood over him and raised its weapon slowly, as though challenging Ricar to take a strike at its exposed midsection before it obliterated him.

Not one to back down meekly, Ricar took a deep breath before focusing all his strength into his next strike. His opponent was far too tall for him to reach any of its vitals, so Ricar unleashed a savage two handed blow that buried his sword an inch deep into the creature’s massive thigh. The creature smirked, revealing rows of jagged teeth.

“Well, you had a good run,” Ricar breathed to himself and looked his foe in the eye as he readied himself for the final blow, satisfied that if the Arbiter’s arrow couldn’t kill this creature, he had at least made it easier for her to evade it before finishing Glonn off.

As the creature was about to bring its weapon down, an arrow radiating yellow light smashed through its chest, leaving behind a hole almost two feet in diameter. The creature looked down in disbelief, shaking the ground under Ricar’s feet as it collapsed in a large heap. Ricar moved quickly to dislodge his sword and saw that the creature’s foul blood had eaten through part of the blade. The sword had been given to him by Sir Ilian and it had served Ricar well for the last twenty years.

“Thank you,” he breathed. He gave the blade one last look before burying what was left in the creature’s neck.

“I suppose that’s three I owe you,” Ricar breathed as Rhania approached.

“No, let’s call that one square,” Rhania said. “I apologize for my breakdown and would be dead if it weren’t for you.”

Ricar shrugged and looked at the blade at Rhania’s side. “I’m afraid I have no weapon.”

Rhania drew her dagger and handed it hilt first to the wiry man, who took it with a bemused look on his face. Rhania seemed not to notice and frowned. “He’s gone.”

Ricar turned his attention to the temple and his heart sank. Glonn was nowhere to be seen. A streak of blood ran across the garden and into the temple. Somehow, he had found the strength to drag himself inside.

“We must hurry,” he gasped as he began running towards temple. Rhania was half a step behind him.